{"id":7176,"date":"2026-11-10T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=7176"},"modified":"2026-11-10T12:47:04","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T17:47:04","slug":"music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While America was busy celebrating its bicentennial on July 4, 1976, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were in the studio, recording what would become one of their best and most beloved songs\u2014&#8221;American Girl.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;American Girl&#8221; is about a young woman&#8217;s determination to create a better life for herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;In my mind, the girl was looking for the strength to move on, and she found it,&#8221; Petty once said of the song. &#8220;It&#8217;s one of my favorites.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But one interpretation of the lyrics, combined with a real-life tragedy, led to a longstanding myth about the song&#8217;s subject matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"American Girl\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J7bAeH7iJFc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Urban Legend<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An infamous urban legend surrounds &#8220;American Girl&#8221; and claims Petty wrote it about a young woman who died by suicide at the University of Florida&#8217;s Beaty Towers dorm in his hometown of Gainesville. In one version of the story, she took her own life intentionally. In another, she was trying to fly after taking hallucinogenic drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the song&#8217;s lyrics seem to support this theory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>She couldn\u2019t help thinkin\u2019 that there was a little more to life somewhere else<br>After all, it was a great big world with lots of places to run to<br>Yeah, and if she had to die<\/em><br><em>Tryin\u2019, she <\/em><br><em>had one little promise she was gonna keep<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Petty also sings of how \u201d<em>she could hear the cars roll by out on 441, like waves crashing on the beach<\/em>.&#8221; That&#8217;s a reference to Route 441, which goes past the university. The lyrics also mention the girl in the song standing alone on her balcony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rumor is just that, however\u2014a rumor. A spokesperson for the university <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alligator.org\/article\/2009\/08\/uf-campus-holds-decades-of-legends-ghost-stories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has said no such death ever occurred<\/a>. The dorm in question does not have balconies. Petty and Campbell also disputed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat story really gets around,&#8221; Petty said in an interview for the book <em>Conversations with Tom Petty<\/em>. They\u2019ve really got the whole story. I\u2019ve even seen magazine articles about that story. \u2018Is it true, or isn\u2019t it true?\u2019 They could have just called me and found out it wasn\u2019t true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In reality, the &#8220;American Girl&#8221; described was &#8220;a composite, a character who yearned for more than had life had dealt her,&#8221; according to Petty himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also explained he wrote &#8220;American Girl&#8221; in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was living in an apartment where I was right by the freeway, and the cars would go by. In Encino, near Leon Russell\u2019s house. And I remember thinking that [the traffic] sounded like the ocean to me. That was my ocean, my Malibu where I heard the waves crash, but it was just the cars going by. I think that must have inspired the lyric.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Campbell pointed to the lyrics to dispel the rumor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We used to have people come up to us and tell us they thought it was about suicide because of the one line about &#8216;if she had to die,&#8217; but what they didn&#8217;t get was, the whole line is &#8216;if she had to die trying.&#8217; Some people take it literally and out of context,&#8221; Campbell said. &#8220;To me it&#8217;s just a really beautiful love song.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo by Michael Putland\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rumor about Tom Petty&#8217;s &#8220;American Girl&#8221; suggests the song was inspired by a tragic death, and its lyrics seem to prove it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":547050,"featured_media":2435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":19,"post_id":80}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"savage_platform_markdown_available":false,"savage_platform_markdown_version":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Michael Putland\/Getty Images","_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[127,59,18,332],"byline":[19],"class_list":["post-7176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-1970s","tag-classic-rock","tag-rock-music","tag-tom-petty"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"1970s","term_id":127,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/1970s\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death? - Songfacts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A rumor about Tom Petty&#039;s &quot;American Girl&quot; suggests the song was inspired by a tragic death, and its lyrics seem to prove it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death? - Songfacts Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A rumor about Tom Petty&#039;s &quot;American Girl&quot; suggests the song was inspired by a tragic death, and its lyrics seem to prove it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Songfacts Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-10T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg?w=1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Janelle Sheetz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Janelle Sheetz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/\"},\"author\":[{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=80\"}],\"headline\":\"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-10T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":552,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"1970s\",\"classic rock\",\"Rock Music\",\"Tom Petty\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/\",\"name\":\"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death? - Songfacts Articles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-10T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"A rumor about Tom Petty's \\\"American Girl\\\" suggests the song was inspired by a tragic death, and its lyrics seem to prove it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Photo by Michael Putland\\\/Getty Images\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/\",\"name\":\"Songfacts Articles\",\"description\":\"Better understand and enjoy the songs you love\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Songfacts Articles\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/songfacts-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/songfacts-logo.png\",\"width\":575,\"height\":180,\"caption\":\"Songfacts Articles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=80\",\"name\":\"Janelle Sheetz\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/author\\\/janelle-sheetz\\\/\",\"description\":\"For over a decade, Janelle Sheetz has worked extensively as a freelance writer, and her writing about movies, music, and pop culture has been featured across the web, including with Collider, Mental Floss, Paste, and more. She is an elder emo who takes pride in her eclectic taste in music, as well as the extensive [&hellip;]\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/IMG_9039.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/IMG_9039.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death? - Songfacts Articles","description":"A rumor about Tom Petty's \"American Girl\" suggests the song was inspired by a tragic death, and its lyrics seem to prove it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death? - Songfacts Articles","og_description":"A rumor about Tom Petty's \"American Girl\" suggests the song was inspired by a tragic death, and its lyrics seem to prove it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/","og_site_name":"Songfacts Articles","article_published_time":"2026-11-10T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg?w=1200","width":1200,"height":675,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Janelle Sheetz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Janelle Sheetz","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/"},"author":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=80"}],"headline":"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death?","datePublished":"2026-11-10T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/"},"wordCount":552,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg","keywords":["1970s","classic rock","Rock Music","Tom Petty"],"articleSection":["Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/","name":"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death? - Songfacts Articles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg","datePublished":"2026-11-10T18:00:00+00:00","description":"A rumor about Tom Petty's \"American Girl\" suggests the song was inspired by a tragic death, and its lyrics seem to prove it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Photo by Michael Putland\/Getty Images"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/","name":"Songfacts Articles","description":"Better understand and enjoy the songs you love","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#organization","name":"Songfacts Articles","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/12\/songfacts-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/12\/songfacts-logo.png","width":575,"height":180,"caption":"Songfacts Articles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=80","name":"Janelle Sheetz","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/author\/janelle-sheetz\/","description":"For over a decade, Janelle Sheetz has worked extensively as a freelance writer, and her writing about movies, music, and pop culture has been featured across the web, including with Collider, Mental Floss, Paste, and more. She is an elder emo who takes pride in her eclectic taste in music, as well as the extensive [&hellip;]","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/IMG_9039.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/IMG_9039.jpg","width":500,"height":500}}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death?","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg"},"articleSection":"Features","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Janelle Sheetz"}],"creator":["Janelle Sheetz"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Songfacts Articles","logo":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/12\/songfacts-logo.png"},"keywords":["1970s","classic rock","rock music","tom petty"],"dateCreated":"2026-11-10T18:00:00Z","datePublished":"2026-11-10T18:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-11-10T18:00:00Z","custom_metadata":[],"section":"Features"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Music Myth: Is \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty About a Tragic Death?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/music-myth-is-american-girl-by-tom-petty-about-a-tragic-death\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg?w=150&amp;h=150&amp;crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2026-11-10T18:00:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Features\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"1970s,classic rock,rock music,tom petty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Janelle Sheetz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-metadata\" content=\"Array\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/articles.songfacts.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Tom-Petty-1200-x-675.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/547050"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7229,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7176\/revisions\/7229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7176"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=7176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}